1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing system, an image processing apparatus, and an image processing method, and in particular relates to an image processing system, an image processing apparatus, and an image processing method for printing one job in a plurality of printing apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a technique called cascade copy or cascade print for distributing and transmitting a job to a plurality of printing apparatuses and performing printing in the printing apparatuses. This technique can increase the productivity in copying or in print processing from a PC. In printing one job in a plurality of printing apparatuses with this cascade copy or cascade print, if the printing is performed between printing apparatuses having different color reproduction capabilities, there has been a problem in that the results (particularly tint) printed in the respective printing apparatuses may differ from each other. The difference in tint of the printed material for each printing apparatus is not preferable because the printed material will be output with a different tint for each printing apparatus for each color, particularly in performing color printing. For this reason, the typical system has such a specification that cascade copy or cascade print can be performed only when the color reproduction capability of each printing apparatus is the same.
In order to solve these problems, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H10-79865 (1998) discloses that the data converted to PCS (Profile Connection Space) color data independent of printing apparatuses is mapped within a common color reproduction area of printing apparatuses as output destinations. That is, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H10-79865 (1998), the data converted to PCS color data is mapped within a common color reproduction area where a first color reproduction range and a second color reproduction area overlap with each other using an identical color reproduction profile. In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H10-79865 (1998), the tints of the outputs of the printing apparatuses having different color reproduction capabilities are adjusted using such a mapping technique.
Since the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H10-79865 (1998) uses the above-described common color reproduction area, an output with the same tint can be obtained in the different types of apparatuses and accordingly this technique has been an effective technique and satisfied demands in those days. However, in recent years, there is a desire to excellently perform printing in accordance with various situations (various use cases or various types of images) between different printing apparatuses, and therefore there still remains a problem in order to perform excellent printing.
For example, among the above-described various situations, the use cases of printing one job in a plurality of printing apparatuses include not only cascade copy performed for improving the productivity but also various use cases. For example, scan image distribution for distributing the scanned data of meeting minutes or the like from a meeting room to printing apparatuses near participants, distribution print for delivering a FAX or PDL data to a floor of each department, and the like correspond to the various use cases. For example, the scan image distribution can transfer the minutes or memos written on a white board during a meeting to output apparatuses near the participants just by making one print without printing as many prints as the number of the participants. Therefore, the scan image distribution is a convenient function to eliminate a need to wait for all the prints to be output and also eliminate a need to carry them. Moreover, the distribution print is a function to transmit data for printing to a plurality of output apparatuses simultaneously, and is intended to distribute the same information to a plurality of persons at separate locations. The distribution print is a convenient function to transfer, for example, a FAX received in an MFP with a facsimile function to a plurality of printers, which are registered to be transferred in advance, thereby allowing even a printer without a facsimile function to receive the FAX and allowing a nearby output apparatus in an office to receive the FAX. Depending on differences in these use cases, the importance of tint matching of the output in each printing apparatus will vary. For example, since the purpose of the cascade copy or the cascade print is to improve the productivity, one person is most likely to have the output results and thus the importance of matching the tints in the outputs of printing apparatuses becomes high. On the other hand, in the scan image distribution or the distribution print, since separate users are supposed to have the printed material, the tint matching in the outputs of printing apparatuses is not so important.
Moreover, in printing the same content, the importance of the tint matching between the printing apparatuses varies also depending on the content of a printing job. For example, in the case of image data, a wide variety of colors are often used, and if the printing is performed in a condition of a narrow color reproduction range, the vividness of each color will degrade and differences from the document image become conspicuous. On the other hand, a text image is primarily black and the colors to be used are also often limited, and furthermore, unlike a picture image, color variation in the text image is also often monotonous. Accordingly, the text image is characterized in that even if the printing is performed in a condition of a narrow color reproduction range, the differences from the document image are inconspicuous.
However, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H10-79865 (1998), the “use case” such as cascade or distribution, or the “type of image” such as text, graphic, or image, has not been taken into account. For this reason, the optimum color matching between devices corresponding to the applications or the features of an image that change visual impression to a user cannot be performed, thus resulting in processing of uniformly emphasizing only color matching between devices. For example, also in delivering picture images, there is a problem that the color matching between devices and the color matching with a document cannot be processed in a balanced manner, and thus differences from the document image become conspicuous.
Furthermore, a user may desire to vibrantly output a specific color depending on not only the type of a document image but the color range used in the document image or the drawn contents, or a user may desire to output in such a manner that differences between printing apparatuses may become inconspicuous. However, such customization cannot be specified.
The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing system, an image processing apparatus, and an image processing method capable of realizing the optimum color matching between devices depending on various situations (the use case or the type of image) in printing one job in a plurality of image forming apparatuses.
Furthermore, it is another object of the present invention to provide an image processing system, an image processing apparatus, and an image processing method capable of making the optimum selection of the levels of color matching between devices, color matching methods, and image forming apparatuses to be used, and also capable of easily customizing to meet user's needs.